One Page Landscape in Word: Steps and Fixes

Yes. In Microsoft Word, you can make one page landscape and keep the pages before and after it portrait by placing a Next Page section break on both sides of that page, then changing the orientation of the section between them.

Why section breaks control page orientation

Word applies page setup choices such as orientation to sections, not simply to individual pages. A document that has no section breaks is usually one section, so changing its orientation can turn every page landscape. To isolate one page, you create a section that contains that page alone. The section before it and the section after it can remain portrait.

A page break and a section break are not interchangeable. A page break moves following text to a new page but keeps it in the same section. A section break can start a new section and allow that section to use different page settings, including orientation, margins, columns, or headers and footers. For a single landscape page in the middle of a document, the two boundaries are what keep the orientation change from spreading.

Make one page landscape in Word for Windows

These steps apply to the desktop version of Word for Microsoft 365 on Windows. Save the document before making substantial layout changes, especially if it contains carefully placed tables, images, or page breaks.

Click at the very beginning of the page you want to turn landscape. If the page begins with a heading or a table, place the cursor before the first item on that page.
Open Layout > Breaks. Under Section Breaks, choose Next Page. This starts a new section on the target page.
Go to the end of the content on the target page. Click after the last character or object on that page, then choose Layout > Breaks > Next Page again. The following content now begins in another section on the next page.
Click anywhere on the page you want to make landscape. Choose Layout > Orientation > Landscape.
Check the pages before and after it. They should remain portrait. If either has changed, check that the two section breaks are in the right places and that the cursor was in the intended section when you changed Orientation.

The second break belongs after the target page’s content, not at the start of the following page’s text. Word’s pagination can shift as content changes, so inspect the result rather than relying only on the page number you saw before inserting breaks.

Show and check the section breaks

Formatting marks make it easier to see whether the boundaries are where you intended. On Windows, select Home > Show/Hide ¶, or press Ctrl+Shift+8. The document will display paragraph marks and labels such as Section Break (Next Page). These marks do not print.

Look for one section break immediately before the landscape page and another after its content. A section break also separates the paragraph formatting around it, so deleting one can change the layout of adjacent sections. If you remove a break, Word may apply the following section’s formatting to the preceding content or merge the sections. Turn off Show/Hide when you have finished checking.

If you cannot tell which section contains the landscape page, click within its text and open the Page Setup dialog using the small dialog launcher in the lower-right corner of the Layout tab’s Page Setup group. In the dialog, check the orientation and the Apply to setting. When available, choose This section to limit the change to the section containing the cursor.

Make the change in Word for Mac

The method is the same in the desktop Word app for Mac: create a section break before the page and another after it, then change the orientation while the cursor is in that section. Select Layout > Breaks > Next Page to add each section break, and use Layout > Orientation > Landscape for the target section. Ribbon labels and their arrangement can vary slightly with Word version and window size.

On Mac, the Show/Hide formatting marks control is on the Home tab; the keyboard shortcut is generally Command+8. If the ribbon does not show the options you expect, widen the Word window or open the Layout tab’s page setup controls. Avoid using a shortcut for a page break as a substitute: it will not create the separate section needed for a different orientation.

When changing selected content may be quicker

For a small, self-contained block such as a wide table, you can sometimes select the relevant text and open the Page Setup dialog. Set Orientation to Landscape and choose Selected text in the Apply to list, if that option is available. Word can add section breaks around the selection as part of applying the setting. This can be convenient, but it is less predictable when the selection includes paragraph marks, spans multiple pages, or contains objects anchored to surrounding paragraphs.

For a page that must stay landscape by itself, manually creating the two Next Page section breaks is easier to inspect and maintain. Either way, check the result after changing orientation: the selected content may repaginate, and a block that used to fit on one page may spill onto another. Orientation applies to a section, not to a particular table or picture alone.

What happens to tables, margins, and page numbers

Landscape orientation makes the page wider and shorter, which can help with a spreadsheet-like table, a comparison chart, a wide image, or a schedule with many columns. It does not automatically make the text larger or guarantee that an object will fit. Review the layout after the change and adjust the table width, column sizes, margins, or font size as needed. Keep readability in mind: shrinking a table until it fits can make it difficult to read on screen or on paper.

Margins are also section-level page settings. If the landscape page needs different margins, click within that section and change them through Layout > Margins, checking that the change applies only to the intended section. Landscape pages may also use different header and footer spacing, so inspect the top and bottom of the page.

Page numbering usually continues across sections, but headers and footers have their own section-link settings. A new section may initially be linked to the previous section’s header or footer. If you need a different header, footer, or page-number placement on the landscape page, open the header or footer and review Link to Previous on the Header & Footer tab. Turn it off only if you want that section to have independent content; changing this setting is not required just to rotate the page.

Common problems and how to fix them

Every page turns landscape: The document may still be one section, or the orientation may have been applied to the whole document. Add the section breaks on both sides of the target page, click inside that section, and apply Landscape to that section.
A blank page appears: Turn on Show/Hide marks and look for an extra page break, an extra Next Page section break, or empty paragraphs. A section break set to Next Page can also push content forward when it is already near a page boundary. Remove only the unwanted mark, then check the neighboring sections because deleting a section break can affect formatting.
The wrong page becomes landscape: A section break may be before or after the wrong content, or the page may have repaginated after the change. Display formatting marks, confirm the section boundaries, and click in the actual content that should be landscape before changing orientation.
The landscape content spills onto a second page: The content may simply be too large for the available area. Adjust column widths, image size, margins, or spacing rather than assuming the orientation setting failed. Also check whether an empty paragraph or a large paragraph spacing value is taking up room.
The next section inherits an unexpected layout: Review the break after the landscape page and the orientation of the section that follows it. A section break separates settings, but the settings of the following section may need to be set explicitly to Portrait.

Printing and sharing the document

Before printing, use Print Preview to confirm that the landscape page appears in the right place and that the printer is not scaling or cropping its content. A document can mix portrait and landscape pages, but the physical printer and paper size still matter. If the page is wider than the selected paper, Word or the printer driver may scale it down or place it across multiple sheets, depending on the print settings.

When exporting to PDF, use Word’s export or save-as-PDF option and open the resulting PDF to verify the page order, orientation, and table legibility. The PDF preserves the page layout as exported, but it cannot correct a misplaced section break in the Word document. If other people need to edit the file, keep the Word version too; a PDF is useful for distributing a fixed layout but is less convenient for editing the underlying sections.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I make only one page landscape in Word without changing the rest?
Yes. Put a Next Page section break before and after the page, then choose Landscape while the cursor is in that page’s section. The surrounding sections can remain portrait.

Can I make one page landscape without section breaks?
Not reliably when the surrounding pages need a different orientation. A page break alone does not create a separate page-setup section. Word needs a section boundary so that the orientation can differ from the rest of the document.

Can I make just one page landscape in Word Online?
Word for the web has fewer page-layout controls than the desktop apps, and the availability of section-break features can vary. For a dependable one-page orientation change, open the document in desktop Word for Windows or Mac and add the section breaks there.

Will changing one page to landscape alter my page numbers?
It should not remove page numbering, but headers and footers are controlled separately for each section and may be linked to the previous section. Check the header or footer if its position or content needs to differ on the landscape page.

Why did Word add a blank page after I changed orientation?
A section break, page break, or empty paragraph may have forced content onto another page. Turn on formatting marks, inspect the breaks around the landscape section, and remove only the extra mark. Then recheck the orientation and pagination of neighboring sections.

Try it: the Date Difference Calculator: days, months, years and weekdays between two dates, with the DATEDIF formulas.

More in How-to basics

Sources: Function behaviour and menu paths: Microsoft Support documentation for Excel. Method & sources

Spotted an error in this guide? Let us know.